The song “Calm Down” by the Nigerian singer Rema (whose real name is Divine Ikubor) is the first track by an African artist to enter Spotify‘s billions of streams club. This indicates that the chart-topping single that features Selena Gomez has amassed more than one billion streams on Spotify.
Additionally, he is ranked among the top 10 Afrobeats artists with the most streams on the platform. Afrobeats is still one of the most popular musical genres in 2022, as evidenced by the fact that it has been streamed more than 13 billion times on Spotify and has artists like as Burna Boy and Ayra Starr.
The song “Calm Down” was the first single to be published by Rema, and it was taken from his debut studio album, which was titled “Raves and Roses.” The song was successful in Europe, climbing to the top spot in the charts of Belgium’s Ultratop 50, the Netherlands’ Top 40, and the Netherlands’ Single Top 100.
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The song reached its highest position in the United Kingdom at number three on the UK Singles Chart and remained there for a total of twenty-seven weeks, but these weeks were not consecutive.
The collaboration between Rema and the American singer Selena Gomez resulted in a new version of “Calm Down” that was released on August 25, 2022. The remix version was phenomenally successful on the charts, reaching number one on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart as well as the Billboard Global Excl. US chart.
In addition to that, it climbed all the way up to the third spot on the Global 200 chart. It reached its highest position on the renowned Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where it peaked at number three. This marked Rema’s first entrance in the top ten category, while it was Gomez’s ninth inclusion overall.
It remained at the top of the Afrobeats Songs chart in the United States for an incredible 45 weeks in a row, which is an impressive accomplishment. It also topped the charts for all genres of radio play in the United States, including Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay, and Radio Songs. All three of these charts were for pop music.
This accomplishment marked Rema’s first number-one hit on either of these charts, while it was also Gomez’s first number-one on the charts containing only female artists. In addition to this, it has climbed all the way to number one on the Canadian Hot 100 chart as of the 13th of May, 2023.
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Remarks from Rema
According to Rema, “It’s a blessing. It’s not just a big win for me, my team, and family; it’s also a big one for the culture. I feel really happy, and I’m really proud of the fans as well for going back to the song and putting people onto the song. Shout-out to the DJs and everyone who made this possible.”
Remarks from Spotify’s Artist and Label Partnerships Manager
“This milestone is absolutely remarkable for Rema, marking a pivotal moment for this talented artist and the entire Afrobeats community. It’s clear that the genre is making a significant impact and gaining substantial influence on the global music stage, and we are excited to continue supporting it at Spotify,” said Victor Okpala, Spotify’s Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for West Africa.
Rema recently triumphed against Wizkid, Davido, and Burnaboy to take home the inaugural title of “Best Afrobeats Artist” at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, which took held on Tuesday at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey, in the United States.